Interest in EVs in UK rises due to fuel supply problems

As ever, interest in something increases when people are directly effected.

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I remember in the 1980’s when a national postage strike prompted an upsurge in the use of fax machines which are definitely not popular today, email at the push of a button rules the day.
Britain made a move years ago to be dependent on gaz and now they are caught by the short and curlies with price supply hikes that have to be taken on the chin. Electricity will go the same way, if not already and who has the right to say no more fossil fuel cars after whatever date is thus forcing people to buy expensive battery cars?
Wait for the backlash come the day when the majority keep with fossil fuel power and the oil producing countries drop thier prices to squash the battery revolution in its infancy.
I am still waiting for a realistic answer to how any vehicle other than a bike or car can be powered by batteries.

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No need to wait, it’s all happening, especially in the bus market…

Correct me if I am wrong but these buses are found in towns and cities as public service vehicles which invariably are financially supported in part by public money. The likes of Flixbus and many others which travel long distances and stand or fall by having to be competitive ie not subsidised.
The vast majority of transporting vehicles will be powered by oil related products for many many years to come.

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There were buses in London when I left.

The number 88 that ran past Hayes & Harlington station was an electric bus.

There were electric buses in London in the 1950s…

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Bring back the trams… didn’t they run on electric wire thingies…

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Which, whilst correct, has nothing to do with whether electric traction works, or not, for such vehicles. It clearly does - China already has a massive electric bus fleet, & TFL have started to go down that route.
Delivery firms are already investing in electric van fleets as the savings in operating costs are already massive.
Electric LGVs (Large Goods Vehicles) are already reality. Having to carry large &/or heavy batteries is less of an issue for such vehicles than it is for a family car where physical battery size/weight is more of a concern.

Heathrow Connect/TfL and GWR run all electric trains with overhead wires between Paddington and Reading. There were the favourite part of my old commute.

I’ve a feeling some French cities reduced/got rid of their tramways a few years ago…
probably much like in UK…
just realized you’re talking about crosscountry… sorry.

This surely defeats the object of economical power.
How much wasted power is used simply to be able to drag around an extremely large and heavy battery?
Trains and buses that are fed electricity from an outside source obviously dont need these heavy batteries but are very much restricted to the route they travel.
Inner and inter city public transport by electricity has proved effective for many years but beyond that environment I think not .

Many a true word spoken in jest. In the buy or wait chat I dared to suggest it was part of boris s’ plan. No petrol then go electric. I am now interested in how we will fight future wars once the ICEs are banned. Will we have to set up charging points in deserts, jungles etc for our tanks etc? Will we see a Rapid response Charging Point Battalion?

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The trollybuses. They were around when I was a kid.

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Near us, some cities are reintroducing them… :thinking:

Not really. 1000 litres of diesel is also a fairly significant weight.
Anyway, if there is a trade off due to the weight it’s worth bearing in mind that the electricity to recharge a truck can be carbon neutral, whereas burning fossil fuel never is.

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I remember the trolleybuses in Nottingham. The trolleybus service replaced the trams. It was popular and ran from the late 1920s through to 1966. But the poles coming off the overhead wires was an everyday problem.

Trolleybuses

We used to travel to one of my aunts on a trolleybus. I used to be so sick! :nauseated_face:

Great photo. Looking at the smog in the background I also remember the smog in London. You couldn’t see the other side of the road and you came home from school covered in a sooty dampness. IMO it did more long term damage to my poor old poumons that my brief (twenty year :roll_eyes:) dalliance with smoking.

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I there had been social media then :roll_eyes: they they would have blamed that on London Transport injecting you with chips via the power line

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